Now (finally?) we have the Republicans admitting they know nothing about governing. Paul Krugman saw it coming. "Austerity" doesn't work. Now what?
... If you look at United States history since World War II, you find that of the 10 presidents who preceded Barack Obama, seven left office with a debt ratio lower than when they came in. Who were the three exceptions? Ronald Reagan and the two George Bushes. So debt increases that didn’t arise either from war or from extraordinary financial crisis are entirely associated with hard-line conservative governments.
And there’s a reason for that association: U.S. conservatives have long followed a strategy of “starving the beast,” slashing taxes so as to deprive the government of the revenue it needs to pay for popular programs.
The funny thing is that right now these same hard-line conservatives declare that we must not run deficits in times of economic crisis. Why? Because, they say, politicians won’t do the right thing and pay down the debt in good times. And who are these irresponsible politicians they’re talking about? Why, themselves.
To me, it sounds like a fiscal version of the classic definition of chutzpah — namely, killing your parents, then demanding sympathy because you’re an orphan. Here we have conservatives telling us that we must tighten our belts despite mass unemployment, because otherwise future conservatives will keep running deficits once times improve.
Put this way, of course, it sounds silly. But it isn’t; it’s tragic. The disastrous turn toward austerity has destroyed millions of jobs and ruined many lives. And it’s time for a U-turn. ...Paul Krugman, NYT
If you're looking for an "equal blame" here, well, liberals continue to have something to blame themselves for: continuing to hope. Many among us really believe in rational arguments: just explain carefully and have your facts straight and wrong-headed politicians will do the right thing.
America has already begun to look like Jonestown where observers of theaftermath of mass suicide commented, "They looked like they were sleeping."
